Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 53:3 (New Living Translation)

He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.

This is a prophecy from Isaiah. The “He” discussed is Jesus (some believe otherwise, but I read this as Jesus).

Jesus suffered, and we did not care. The “we” here are the Jews, but again, others disagree on that. I could extend the “we” to all Jews and Gentiles alive at the time and in the area of Judea. There were crowds of people about Jesus at various times in his ministry. He was well known as He performed miracles.

Then came the crucifixion. Nothing better to cause people to find something else to do than a good old, slow, excruciating public execution. I think that is what happened. The miracles ceased, Jesus was arrested, and things went down hill.

Perhaps Jesus was a phony. Perhaps those miracles were tricks, slight of hand. I mean, from a human perspective, if Jesus could really do those things, He could have easily avoided a public execution. The execution proved He wasn’t what He seemed.

Wrong.

Funny how we haven’t changed much, people that is. We go along when things are good, and lose interest when things turn mediocre or worse. Excitement quickly turns to don’t care.